Atiba Hutchinson joins Besiktas

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By Rudi Schuller

The 30-year-old Canadian international officially signed with the Turkish side after playing out his contract with PSV Eindhoven.

Turkish club Besiktas announced on Wednesday that it has signed Canadian international Atiba Hutchinson to a two-year deal worth over two million euros.

The agreement ends months of speculation about the 30-year-old's next move, after he played out his previous contract with Dutch giant PSV Eindhoven last season.

Usually a central midfielder, Hutchinson played at right back for large portions of the past two years for PSV, a positional move which was part of the reason he rejected a new deal with the Eindhoven-based outfit. In the weeks since the end of the 2012-13 campaign, Hutchinson had been linked to several European sides, including Everton, Sevilla, Panathinaikos and Trabzonspor.

A long-time veteran of European club football, Hutchinson's move to Turkey adds to the list of countries in which he's plied his trade. After starting his professional career in Canada with the York Region Shooters and Toronto Lynx, the Brampton, Ont., native made the jump across the Atlantic in 2004 when he signed on for Swedish side Oster.

A successful season saw Hutchinson transfer to Helsingborg, with whom he starred for several years before moving to Denmark's FC Copenhagen. He spent five seasons at the Danish side, and in his final campaign with Copenhagen he was named Player of the Year in the Superliga.

From there he made the move to Holland and PSV Eindhoven in 2010, with whom he made 113 appearances in all competitions.

Internationally, Hutchinson has earned 64 caps for Canada since debuting as a 19-year-old in 2003. He has scored four times for the national side.